Darren M. Fortin: Candidate Profile

Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioKey IssuesQA Bio City: WoodstockWebsite: http://www.fortin4mcc2011.comOffice sought: McHenry County CollegeAge: 45Family: Married 5 Children Life long resident of McHenry CountyOccupation: Sales Representative Meyer Material CompanyEducation: 1984 Graduate of Marian Central Catholic HSBS Management Villanova University 1989MBA Northern Illinois University 2003Civic involvement: Youth Football Coach 22 Years St Mary WoodstockMarian Central Catholic HSIllini Youth Football League Board of Directors5 years-2 years Treasurer 3 years PresidentAnnual Volunteer Gavers Foundation Barn DanceElected offices held: NoneHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Decrease the amount of time it takes a student to earn their degree. With the cost of tuition at 4 year colleges increasing, the demand for a quality associates degree will remain high. The community needs a quality degree within 2.5 years of enrollment, if they are attending full time. At the present time that is hard to achieve.Key Issue 2 With our aging population the demand for quality health care workers will continue to rise. The college has a good nursing program but it is not producing enough qualified graduates to fill the demand. I believe this program needs to be expanded for health care workers and technicians. Mercy and Centegra are already proposing expanding their facilities and adding services, why not be able to fill these positions from within McHenry County? At the same time Assisted Living facilities are expanding or building new facilities in the county, MCC should be able to have qualified health care workers available to fill those positions also.At the same time we are expanding these educational areas, we should be looking at underutilized classes and training and consolidate those so the space can be used by classes that have a greater demand.Key Issue 3 My third campaign issue is to focus on decreasing the tax burden on the area tax payers. A successful business or College offers a quality product or education. If MCC is providing useful training, degrees, education and seminars then people within the community and outside of the community will use it more. This creates more operational revenues. If the community, businesses, and citizens also see MCC providing quality education and well trained graduates, overall benefitting the County, then an increase in donations, endowments and foundations will take some of the burden off of the tax payersQuestions Answers With enrollment up at my many community colleges, it can be challenging to keep pace as far as available classroom/lab space, the number of qualified teachers and available course work options. How would you manage that?First of all I like the new system MCC has put in place to place students closer to graduation in the classes that they need to earn their degree, but that does not solve the problem by itself, there are some short term possibilities.We have some of the finest High School facilities here in McHenry County, short term help would be to partner with these schools for Night classes and Saturday classes to utilize the labs or classrooms to get students through these classes quicker. Incentives for current professors to take on an extra class or looking to other colleges for part time help or even looking at retired professors may find the necessary talent to add several classes to each semester. The Board and the Administration should look at the less demanded classes and see if they could be consolidated and free up classroom space for those classes higher in demand.In tough economic times, many students (and working professionals) turn to a community college for its educational value. How do you ensure that a person's financial sacrifice equates into an educational benefit?Provide useful education, at a reasonable cost, in a timely manner.As a Board of Advisors member your vote is what counts, the people you approve, the programs you approve, the funding you approve, the decisions that you make, and the leadership you show are the only ways one member can ensure that a person gets a quality educational benfit from their financial sacrifice. The Board and Administration have to be proactive in seeking feedback from students, professors, administration and the community about what they are doing right and where they are falling short of expectations. Seeking feedback will only help if you have people willing to use it to better their programs and make those changes in a timely manner.Is a tax rate increase needed and, if so, how do you justify it?I do not believe a tax rat increase is needed, I think that if the college is providing quality programs and degrees in a timeley manner that the community will see the value. If business, parents and students feel the benefits of MCC tuition, donations, etc. will increase over time, decreasing the reliance on the tax payer for additional funding.Also if you have an active Board working hard with the Administration the college should be more efficient and productive year to year also decreasing the cost to the tax payer.Community colleges provide many services to a diverse population. Is there a service your college should be providing that it is not, or reaching a segment of the population that it is not?The Health care/Technician education is being provided but not at a rate to satisfy the demand in the area. This area needs to be expanded to serve the needs of the community.Business training and continuing education is not addressed at the level that is should be to assist area businesses and the unemployed as well as underemployed.Finally, with an aging population comes an opportunity to provide continuing education, networking, and seminars aimed at keeping the older generation engaged and active.If you are a newcomer, what prompted you to run for the park board? If you're an incumbent, list your accomplishments or key initiatives in which you played a leadership role.Like all candidates and current Board Members I take pride in McHenry County and want to participate in keeping it a great community to work in, live in and raise a family in. I see MCC as a major asset to our families and businesses for education and training, but over the past several years the College appears to have fallen short of expectations and forgot its' purpose.The community elects the Board of Advisors to protect their investment in it. Decisions over the past several years do not appear to coincide with the reason these members were elected this is what prompted me to run. New ideas, youthful energy and a connection to the community are what I can bring to MCC.